The American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement on media violence
recommends that parents closely monitor what their children watch. Parents
should highlight unsafe practices in movies and educate their children about
practicing safer behaviors, the researchers say.

But, they say, more improvement is needed.

"The entertainment industry has improved the depiction of selected safety
practices in G and PG-rated movies," the authors write. "However, approximately
one half of scenes still depict unsafe practices and the consequences of these
behaviors are rarely shown. The industry should continue to improve how it
depicts safety practices in children's movies."

They note that unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among
children in the U.S., accounting for 36% of fatalities among children 1 to
14.

Fatal injuries could be "substantially reduced" if proper safety
recommendations were followed, the policy says, because children "often imitate
what they see on television and in films."

The report says the Motion Picture Association of American "could consider
injury-prevention practices when establishing criteria for rating movies."

SOURCES: News release, CDC.

Tongren, J. Pediatrics; vol 125: February 2010.

American Academy of Pediatrics: Policy Statement-Media Violence,
November 2009.